Bin lifting system
OwnerWesley Allen Bainterinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is a lifting system that can be used to construct cylindrical grain bins. It includes sets of identical, telescoping jacks actuated by hydraulic cylinders and an hydraulic system having separate hydraulic circuits that serve each set of jacks. The separate hydraulic circuits include identical pumps and control valves. The pumps and the control valves can be operated in unison to supply equal amounts of hydraulic fluid to the sets of jacks so that all of the jacks may be raised or lowered in unison. The lifting system can be used to uniformly lift successive rings of a grain bin structure made up of connected panels. After a first ring is lifted, a second ring can be attached to the lower edge of the first ring. The second ring is then lifted and the process is repeated until the grain bin is completed.
Claims10
An apparatus for lifting a structure comprising:
- (a) a hydraulic system for supplying at least two branches of a hydraulic circuit with substantially equal volumes of pressurized hydraulic fluid,
- (b) at least two equally numbered sets of substantially identical telescoping jacks including one or more telescoping jacks, each telescoping jack including a hydraulic cylinder for actuating the telescoping jack, the hydraulic cylinder connected to a branch of the hydraulic circuit, each hydraulic cylinder having a piston rod that extends and retracts by a stroke distance, each telescoping jack also including:
- (1) a base for supporting the telescoping jack,
- (2) at least a first mast and a last mast, the last mast mounted to the base so that the last mast can move vertically in relation to the base and the first mast mounted to the last mast so that the first mast that can move vertically in relation to the last mast, the first mast including:
- (i) a bracket for attaching to the structure, (ii) a piston rod engaging member for engaging the top end of the piston rod and (iii) a feature for locking the position of the first mast to prevent the first mast from moving down relative to the last mast;
- the last mast including:
- (i) a piston rod engaging member for engaging the top end of the piston rod and (ii) a feature for locking the position of the last mast to prevent the last mast from moving down relative to the base,
- the brackets of the first masts of the telescoping jacks attached to the structure, the hydraulic cylinders of the telescoping jacks receiving substantially equal amounts of pressurized hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic system, the first masts of the telescoping jacks lifted thus raising the structure, the first masts of the telescoping jacks locked in relation to the last masts of the telescoping jacks to prevent the first masts from lowering, the piston rods of the telescoping jacks retracted and then engaged with the piston rod engaging members of the last masts of the telescoping jacks, the hydraulic cylinders of the telescoping jacks again receiving substantially equal amounts of pressurized hydraulic fluid so that the last masts are lifted and such that the structure may be uniformly raised in a substantially level fashion by a distance greater than the stroke distance of the hydraulic cylinders.
A telescoping jack for lifting a load, comprising:
- (a) a base
- (b) a hydraulic cylinder supported by the base including a piston and a piston rod that extends by a stroke distance when the hydraulic cylinder is supplied with hydraulic fluid, the hydraulic cylinder including a lower chamber below the piston and an upper chamber above the piston, the lower chamber for receiving hydraulic fluid when the piston is going up and expelling hydraulic fluid when the piston is going down, the upper chamber for receiving hydraulic fluid when the piston is going down and expelling hydraulic fluid when the piston is going up, the hydraulic cylinder having connections for connecting to hydraulic lines either for supplying hydraulic fluid to each chamber or for receiving a flow of hydraulic fluid from each chamber to move the piston and the piston rod up and down,
- (c) telescoping masts including a first mast and a last mast, the last mast mounted to the base so that it can move vertically in relation to the base and the first mast mounted to the last mast so that it that can move vertically in relation to the first mast, the first mast having a bracket for attaching to a portion of a structure, a piston rod engaging member for engaging the top end of the piston rod and a feature for locking its position to prevent downward movement in relation to the last mast, the last mast also having a piston rod engaging member for engaging the top end of the piston rod and a feature for locking its position relative to the base to prevent downward movement in relation to the base.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.